Special Secretary Y. Maria Martinez, State of Maryland
ANNAPOLIS — Had Isaac Myers, Frederick Douglass, Rev. Henry Highland Garnet and Sojourner Truth envisioned a day when Maryland, where they all were born into slavery, had a Black governor, they would have found a kindred spirit.
Special Secretary Y. Maria Martinez, Special Secretary for the Governor’s Office of Small, Minority and Women’s Businesses, told the release of ReUNION: State of Black Business, 22d ed. Friday that Moore “takes this personally.”
“We’re focused on doing things in the ordinary course of operations that make a difference,” adding that Moore has all the agencies of state government behind his agenda to reduce the racial wealth gap.
Maryland was ranked first in the Black Business Affinity Index for the more than $1 billion Moore has committed to improvements at the state’s historically Black colleges and universities;.
Nichelle Johnson, MWBE Ombusdamsn in the governor’s office, added that 37 percent of the state’s minority business spending in 2024 went to Black-owned firms.
A special category to the Ten Key Factors for Black Business Success was the readiness to defend the 14th Amendment. Myers, Douglass, Garnet and Truth were among the most important catalysts for its adoption to overturn the Dred Scott decision. Myers organized labor unions in the Baltimore harbor and eventually bought the shipyard. Douglas escaped by working as a shipbuilder and became the most prominent Black leader of the 19th century; Garnet gave the first speech by an African-American in the U.S. Capitol –Let The Monster Perish which Sen. Charles Sumner credits with giving him motivation to introduce the 14th Amendment and Truth served as reconaisance for Union troops facing their Confederate foes.
Attorney General Anthony Brown has been among the most vigorous opponents of executive orders seeking to ignore the Constitutional covenant with African-Americans
Maryland has four clusters of more than $1 billion African-American income which the 21st annual Journal of Black Innovation National Black Business Month is matching with the 100 cities in Africa and the Caribbean with more than 1 million population in the 100 cities initiative.